KR20060084825A - Radio frequency identification tag and method for accessing memory area thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

By dividing the user area into the memory of the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag, it is possible to store user information of customers who purchase certain goods, and restricting access to the user area so that unauthorized third parties can arbitrarily use the user area. Do not store or read information.

Transmitting and receiving the reader and predetermined data, generating a power source with the received high frequency signal or low frequency signal and supplying operation power to each part of the RFID tag, and decoding the data received by the transmitting and receiving module, A code / decoder which encodes and transmits data to be transmitted to a transmitting / receiving module, performs a predetermined operation according to the data decoded by the code / decoding unit, and outputs a response signal according to the execution of the predetermined operation to the code / decoding unit to encode and transmit. A main control unit, a memory for storing information on a predetermined article and information of a user who uses the article, and outputting the main control unit to the main control unit, between the main control unit and the memory, and storing an authentication confirmation code in advance; After confirming the access of memory with the stored authentication check code and the authentication code transmitted by the reader, the data Stores and reading out a memory access controller.

RFID system, RFID tag, goods management, barcode, memory management, user information

Description

Radio Frequency Identification Tag and method for accessing memory area

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a general radio recognition system.

Figure 2 is a signal flow diagram showing the operation of a typical radio recognition system.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional radio recognition tag.

4 is a view showing a region of a memory in a conventional RFID tag.

Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a radio recognition tag of the present invention.

6 is a view showing an area of a memory in a radio recognition tag of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of a radio recognition tag of the present invention.

8 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a memory access method of the present invention.

9A to 9C and FIGS. 10A to 10C and 11 are diagrams for explaining an operation of generating an authentication confirmation code in a memory access method of the present invention.

12 is a signal flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of a memory access method of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

500: transceiver module 510: code / decoder

520: main control unit 530: memory

540: memory access control unit 541: authentication confirmation code

600: system area 610: manager area

620: user area 700: error correction unit

710: decryption unit

The present invention relates to an RFID tag attached to a predetermined object in a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system, a user area in a memory of the tag, and storing user information in the user area. It is about the memory access method of the tag to read.

RFID systems incorporate the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling within the radio frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum portion to identify certain objects in the field of distribution and logistics.

This RFID system is a technology that can replace the barcode, which is less likely to be damaged than the barcode, and can read multiple tags at the same time at high speed. Even if an obstacle exists, it can be read, read and written, and reused.

Low frequency RFID systems (30 kHz to 500 kHz) are used in short transmission areas of about 1.8 m or less, while high frequency RFID systems (850 MHz to 950 MHz and 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz) are used in transmission distances of more than 27 m. It is widely used in inventory management, container / pallet / box management, automatic inspection, incoming and outgoing management, automatic sorting, rental goods management, counterfeit goods identification, anti-theft, cargo and goods tracking management.

The RFID system is attached to a predetermined article as shown in Figure 1, the RFID tag 100 is stored information about the article, and the antenna 110 for transmitting and receiving the predetermined data and the RFID tag 100 ), A reader 120 for communicating with the RFID tag 100 through the antenna 110 to control the operation of the RFID tag 100, and data of the RFID tag 100 provided by the reader 120. It consists of a host computer 130 that collects and manages.

In the RFID system having such a configuration, when the predetermined data is stored or read in the RFID tag 100, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the reader 120 performs the RFID tag 100 through the antenna 110 in step 200. Send the command in activation mode.

Then, the RFID tag 100 generates power by the command of the activation mode transmitted by the reader 120 and starts to operate normally, and generates and transmits a response signal indicating that the switch has been switched to the activation mode in step 202.

When the reader 120 receives the response signal of the activation mode transmitted by the RFID tag 100 through the antenna 110 and determines that the RFID tag 100 is switched to the activation mode, the data is read in step 204. Alternatively, a command for notifying storage of data is generated and transmitted to the RFID tag 100 through the antenna 110, and the RFID tag 100 generates a response signal after performing a corresponding operation according to the command in step 206. send.

In the next step 208, the reader 120 receives the response signal of the RFID tag 100 and processes the received response signal, for example, by transmitting the received response signal to the host computer 130 for processing and rest. A command of a mode is generated and transmitted to the RFID tag 100 through the antenna 110.

Then, the RFID tag 100 switches to the rest mode according to the instruction of the rest mode in step 210 to stop the operation.

In such an RFID system, the conventional RFID tag 100 transmits and receives predetermined data with the reader 120 as shown in FIG. 3, and generates power using a received high frequency signal or a low frequency signal to generate an RFID tag. Transmitting and receiving module 300 for supplying operating power to each part of the (100) and the data received by the transmitting and receiving module 300, and to encode the data to be transmitted to the reader 120 to the transmitting and receiving module 300 Performs a predetermined operation according to the data decoded by the code / decoding unit 310 and outputs a response signal according to the execution of the predetermined operation to the code / decoding unit 310. And a main controller 320 for encoding and transmitting the data, and a memory 330 for storing data for a predetermined article and outputting the data to the main controller 320.

The memory 330 is divided into a system area 400 and an administrator area 410 as shown in FIG. 4, and the system area 400 includes a unique ID 401 and an RFID tag 100 of the RFID tag 100. ) Reservation information 403 is stored in the manager area 410, the production information 411 of the goods, the purchase cycle 413 of the same goods, the expiration date of the goods (415), etc. The data is saved.

In the conventional RFID tag having such a configuration, the transceiver module 300 receives a high frequency signal or a low frequency signal of an activation mode command transmitted by the reader 120 through the antenna 110 to generate power, and generates a power / sign The RFID tag 100 operates normally by providing the decoder 310, the main controller 320, and the memory 330.

In this state, the transmission / reception module 300 outputs the received activation mode command, and the output activation command is decoded by the code / decoder 310 and then input to the main controller 320.

The main controller 320 generates a response signal for notifying that the activation mode has been activated according to the command of the activation mode, and the generated response signal is encoded by the code / decoder 310 and then the reader through the transmission / reception module 300. Is sent to 120.

In this state, when the reader 120 reads predetermined data stored in the memory 330 or transmits a command for storing the predetermined data in the memory 330, the transmission / reception module 300 receives the corresponding command. The received command is decoded by the code / decoder 310 and then input to the main controller 320.

Then, the main control unit 320 is a predetermined data stored in the memory 330 according to the command, for example, the unique ID of the RFID tag 100 stored in the system area 400 of the memory 330 ( 401 and the reservation information 403 related to the RFID tag 100, the production information 411 of the goods stored in the manager area 410 of the memory 330, the purchase cycle 413 of the same goods, and the Various information related to the article is read, including the expiration date 415 or the like, or predetermined information is stored in the corresponding area of the memory 330.

When the predetermined operation according to the command is completed, the main control unit 320 generates a response signal for notifying completion of the operation according to the command. 310 to generate a response signal for notifying the completion of the data storage in the case of storing the data, and provide the response signal to the code / decoder 310. The code / decoder 310 encodes the provided response signal to transmit / receive a module. Transmit to the reader 120 through 300.

* In this state, the reader 120 determines the response signal, generates a command of the rest mode, and transmits the command to the RFID tag 100. Then, the transmission / reception module 300 receives the command in the rest mode, is decoded by the code / decoding unit 310, and is input to the main control unit 330. The main control unit 330 breaks according to the command in the rest mode. Switch to mode and stop all operations.

In such an RFID system, much research has been conducted to identify a user using a certain article and to store the user's information in an RFID tag in order to provide various services to the user. For example, when a customer visits a department store, the customer checks the customer's visit with the RFID tag 100 attached to clothes, shoes, and various accessories currently worn by the customer, and purchases the customer's goods. Much research has been conducted to provide various services such as guiding or presenting customers' preferred items.

For this purpose, information of customers should be stored in the memory 330 of the RFID tag 100. The customer's information is very important to the identity of the customer and should not be leaked outside.

However, the conventional RFID tag 100 does not have an area for storing user information of customers in the memory 330, and also stores a user area for storing user information of customers. There is no means to prevent the information from being read arbitrarily. The user information of the customers is stored in the memory 330 of the RFID tag 100, and a third party who is not authorized to read the user information of the stored customers is read arbitrarily. There is a need to have means to prevent shipping.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to divide a user area into a memory of an RFID tag, to store user information of customers who purchase certain items, and to prevent the unauthorized third party from reading the stored user information arbitrarily. And a memory approach thereof.

The RFID tag of the present invention having the above object includes a transmission and reception module for transmitting and receiving a predetermined data with a reader, generating a power with a received high frequency signal or a low frequency signal, and supplying operation power to each part of the RFID tag; Decodes the data received by the transceiver module, encodes and transmits data to be transmitted to the reader and outputs the encoded / decoded module to the transceiver module, and performs a predetermined operation according to the data decoded by the code / decoder. A main control unit for encoding and transmitting a response signal according to the execution of the code to a code / decoding unit, a memory for storing information on a predetermined article and information of a user who uses the article, and outputting the information to the main controller; It is provided between the control unit and the memory, and stores the authentication confirmation code in advance, and the stored authentication The encoding and the authentication code to the reader, the transmission storage data after confirming authentication, access to the memory and reading out is characterized by consisting of a memory access controller.

An error correction unit configured to correct an error of an encrypted authentication code between the main control unit and a memory access control unit, wherein the memory access control unit further includes a decryption unit for decrypting an encrypted authentication code output from the error correction unit; It is characterized by including.

The memory may be divided into a system area for storing information related to a radio recognition tag, an administrator area for storing information of an item, and a user area for storing user information for purchasing and using an item. The system area and the manager area of the memory store and read predetermined information without performing authentication verification, and the user area of the memory stores and read predetermined user information when authentication is confirmed.

In the memory access method of the RFID tag according to the present invention, when the command of the activation mode is received from the reader, the main controller of the RFID tag generates a response signal while operating in the activation mode and transmits the response signal to the reader, and operates in the activation mode. When a predetermined command for storing or reading predetermined data in a memory is received from the reader at, the authentication code pre-assigned to the reader is extracted from the received command and the extracted authentication code is performed to perform the received command. Outputs an address signal and determines whether the memory access control unit reads or stores predetermined data in the user area of the memory based on the output address signal, and as a result of the determination, does not read or store the predetermined data in the user area of the memory. If not, zero other than the user area of memory. Stores or reads predetermined data according to the received command and transmits the predetermined data to the reader, and when reading or storing predetermined data in a user area of the memory as a result of the determination, reads predetermined information previously stored in the system area of the memory. After generating the authentication confirmation code by combining the predetermined information read out and the authentication code extracted from the received command, it is determined whether the generated authentication confirmation code and the pre-stored authentication confirmation code are the same, and the two authentication confirmation codes are the same. If not, block or prevent the predetermined data from being read or stored in the user area of the memory, and if two authentication confirmation codes are the same, the predetermined data is stored or read in the user area of the memory according to the received command. Characterized in that the transmission to the reader.

The generation of the authentication confirmation code may be performed by generating an exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication of the predetermined information read from the system area of the memory with the received authentication code for each bit, or the predetermined information read from the system area of the memory. And dividing the received authentication code into upper bits and lower bits, combining the upper and lower bits of predetermined information by an exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication for each bit, and combining the upper and lower bits of the authentication code. And combining the exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication for each bit, and generating the predetermined information and authentication code combining the upper bits and the lower bits by exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication for each bit.

In addition, the generation of the authentication confirmation code, the number of bits of the predetermined information read from the system area of the memory padding the received authentication code equal to the number of bits, and the padded predetermined information and the received authentication code Padding the received authentication code with the number of bits of predetermined information generated by an exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication, or read out from a system area of memory, to be equal to the number of bits. The authentication code is divided into upper bits and lower bits, and the upper and lower bits of predetermined information are combined by an exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication for each bit, and the upper and lower bits of the authentication code are exclusive for each bit. A combination of logical sums, logical sums, or logical multiplications, and the predetermined information and authentication combining the high and low bits And a de characterized in that to generate the exclusive logical sum for each bit, the logical sum or logical multiply.

The predetermined information read out from the system area of the memory is a unique ID of the radio recognition tag.

The authentication code output by the main control unit is an encrypted authentication code. The error correction unit determines whether an error has occurred, and if an error occurs, corrects the error and outputs the error to the memory access control unit. Characterized by decrypting the authentication code.

Hereinafter, an RFID tag and a memory access method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings of FIGS. 5 to 12.

5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an RFID tag according to the present invention. As shown in this figure, the transceiver module 500 transmits and receives predetermined data and generates power from the received high frequency signal or low frequency signal to supply operation power to each part of the RFID tag, and the transmission / reception module ( Decodes the data received by the 500, encodes the data to be transmitted to the reader and outputs to the code / decoder 510 and the data decoded by the code / decoder 510 to output to the transmission and reception module 500 A main control unit 520 which performs a predetermined operation according to the operation and outputs a response signal according to the execution of the predetermined operation to the code / decoder 510 to encode and transmit the information; The memory 530 stores and outputs the memory 530 to the main controller 520, and is divided between the main controller 520 and the memory 530 and partitioned in the memory 530. And storing and reading predetermined data in the manager area, and storing the authentication confirmation code 541 in advance and confirming the access of the user area of the memory 530 with the stored authentication confirmation code 541. The memory access control unit 540 stores and reads the data.

As shown in FIG. 6, the memory 530 is divided into a system area 600, an administrator area 610, and a user area 620, and the system area 600 has a unique ID of an RFID tag as in the prior art. 601 and reservation information 603 related to the RFID tag are stored, and the manager area 610 stores product information 611, a purchase cycle 613 of the same product, and an expiration date 615 of the product. In addition, various information related to the article is stored. The user area stores user information 621 including a user's name, social security number, and the like, and various user information including a user purchase history 623.

The size of the system area 600, the manager area 610, and the user area 620 may be arbitrarily adjusted according to the amount of information to be stored.

According to the RFID tag of the present invention having the above configuration, the main control unit 520 may be configured to read a predetermined information in the system area 600 or the manager area 610 of the memory 530 in response to a predetermined command transmitted from the reader. Accordingly, the address signal ADD is output to the memory access control unit 540.

Then, the memory access control unit 540 determines that predetermined information is read or stored in the system area 600 or the manager area 610 of the memory 530 with the address signal ADD. 600 or the predetermined information is read or stored in the manager area 610. That is, in the case of storing predetermined information, the memory access control unit 540 outputs the storage enable signal WEN to the memory 530 to enable the storage and the address signal ADD provided by the main controller 520. And outputs the data signal DATA to the memory 530 to store the data signal DATA in a predetermined area according to the address signal ADD, and in the case of reading the predetermined information, the memory access control unit 540 stores the memory ( The read enable signal REN is outputted to the memory 530 by the read enable signal REN, and the address signal ADD provided by the main controller 520 is outputted to the memory 530 so as to correspond to a predetermined area corresponding to the address signal ADD. The data signal DATA is read, and the read data signal is transmitted to the main controller 520 and transmitted to the reader.

When the reader reads or stores predetermined information in the user area 620 of the memory 530, the reader reads or stores predetermined information in order to allow access to the user area 620 together with a command for reading or storing the predetermined information. And the transmitted command and the authentication code is input to the main control unit 520 through the transmission and reception module 500 and the code / decoder 510 is transmitted to the memory access control unit 540.

Then, the memory access control unit 540 determines that the predetermined user information is read or stored in the user area 620 of the memory 530 by the address signal ADD, and the example of the predetermined information previously stored in the memory 530 is read. For example, the unique ID 601 of the RFID tag previously stored in the system area 600 of the memory 530 is read. Then, a combination of the unique ID 601 of the read RFID tag and the authentication code input from the main control unit 520 is generated to generate an authentication confirmation code, and the generated authentication confirmation code and pre-stored authentication confirmation code 541. It is compared to determine whether or not it is the same.

When the authentication confirmation code generated as a result of the determination and the previously stored authentication confirmation code 541 is not the same, the memory access control unit 540 blocks a user area 620 of the memory 530 from accessing a predetermined amount. Do not store or read user information.

When the authentication confirmation code generated as a result of the determination and the authentication confirmation code 541 stored in advance are the same, the memory access control unit 540 grants access to the user area 62 of the memory 530, and the main control unit. Predetermined user information is stored or read in the user area 620 of the memory 530 according to the address signal ADD and the data signal DATA output from the 520.

7 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of an RFID tag according to the present invention. As shown therein, another embodiment of the present invention is applied when the reader encrypts and transmits an authentication code, and detects and corrects an error of an encrypted authentication code between the main control unit 520 and the memory access control unit 540. The error correction unit 700 is provided, and the memory access control unit 540 includes a decryption unit 710 for decrypting the encrypted authentication code.

According to another embodiment of the RFID tag according to the present invention, when the reader reads or stores predetermined information in the user area 620 of the memory 530, the reader is previously given with a read or store instruction of the predetermined information. The authentication code is encrypted and transmitted. The main control unit 520 receives the authentication code and outputs the encrypted authentication code together with the address signal ADD.

Then, the error correcting unit 700 receives the encrypted authentication code output from the main control unit 520 to determine whether there is an error, and if it is determined that there is an error, correct the error to determine the memory access control unit ( 540).

The memory access control unit 540 decrypts the encrypted authentication code input from the error correcting unit 700 by the decryption unit 710 and stores the decrypted authentication code and the system area 600 of the memory 530. The unique identification 601 of the RFID tag is combined to generate an authentication confirmation code. As in the above-described exemplary embodiment, when the generated authentication confirmation code is compared with the previously stored authentication confirmation code 541, the memory access control unit 540 may store the user area 620 of the memory 530. Block access to the device so that predetermined user information cannot be stored or read, and when the authentication confirmation code is the same, the memory access control unit 540 permits the user area 62 of the memory 530 to access the memory. The predetermined user information is stored or read in the user area 620 of 530.

8 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a memory access method of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, when the command of the activation mode is received from the reader in step 800, the main controller 520 of the RFID tag generates a response signal while operating in the activation mode in step 802, and generates the response. Send the signal to the reader.

When a predetermined command is received from the reader in the next step 804, the main controller 520 determines whether the received command includes an authentication code previously assigned to the received command in step 806, and the authentication code is included. If present, the authentication code is extracted in step 808, the extracted authentication code and a predetermined address signal ADD for performing the received command are output in step 810, and the authentication code is not included. In step 812, a predetermined address signal ADD for performing the received command is output. When the received command is a command for storing predetermined data in the memory 530, the data DATA transmitted together with the command is extracted and output together with the address signal ADD.

In this way, the authentication code and the address signal ADD output by the main controller 520 are input to the memory access controller 540. The memory access controller 540 uses the memory signal (ADD) as the address signal ADD in step 814. It is determined whether the user area 620 of 530 approaches, that is, whether the address signal ADD is an address signal for reading or storing predetermined data in the user area 620 of the memory 530. do.

If it is determined in step 814 that the system area 600 or the manager area 610 of the memory 530 is accessed without accessing the user area of the memory 530, the memory access control unit 540 may perform the step. An operation according to the received command is performed at 816 to store or read predetermined data in the system area 600 or the manager area 610 of the memory 530.

When it is determined in step 814 that the user area of the memory 530 is accessed, the memory access control unit 540 may store the RFID tag stored in the system area 600 of the memory 530 in step 818. The unique ID 601 is read out, and in step 820, the unique ID 601 of the read RFID tag and the received authentication code are combined to generate an authentication confirmation code.

Here, the generation of the authentication confirmation code has a number of ways.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, an exclusive logical sum of the unique ID 900 and the received authentication code 910 of the read 64-bit RFID tag is generated for each bit to generate a 64-bit authentication verification code 920. Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 9B and 9C, an authentication verification code 920 is generated by performing a logical sum or logical multiplication of the unique ID 900 and the received authentication code 910 of the 64-bit RFID tag read out for each bit. You may.

As shown in FIGS. 10A to 10C, the unique IDs of the read 64-bit RFID tags are divided into upper 32 bits 1000 and lower 32 bits 1002, and each of the upper 32 bits 1000 and The lower 32-bit 1002 is converted into a unique ID 1004 of the 32-bit RFID tag by an exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication for each bit, and the received 64-bit authentication code is also converted into the upper 32-bit 1010 and The upper 32 bits 1010 and the lower 32 bits 1012 are divided into the lower 32 bits 1012, and each of the upper 32 bits 1010 and the lower 32 bits 1012 are exclusive logical sums, logical sums, or logical multiplications. The authentication confirmation code 1020 may be generated by converting the unique ID 1004 of the converted 32-bit RFID tag and the 32-bit authentication code 1014 into an exclusive OR, OR, or logical multiplication.

In addition, the unique ID of the RFID tag stored in the system area 600 of the memory 530 is not stored in 64 bits according to the storage capacity of the memory 530, but may be stored in 40 bits, for example. In this case, the present invention converts the 64-bit padding bits into 64-bits by combining the unique ID of the 40-bit RFID tag read out from the system area 600 of the memory 530, as shown in FIG. Then, the unique ID of the converted 64-bit RFID tag and the received authentication code are generated by an exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication by bit to generate an authentication confirmation code, or the unique ID and reception of the converted 64-bit RFID tag. Separate the 32-bit authentication code, and generate the unique ID and authentication code of the 32-bit RFID tag by using exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication, and then generate the unique ID and authentication code of the generated 32-bit RFID tag. The authentication confirmation code may be generated by performing an exclusive logical sum, logical sum, or logical multiplication for each bit.

When the authentication confirmation code is generated in this way, the memory access control unit 540 determines whether the authentication confirmation code generated in step 822 and the authentication confirmation code 541 stored in advance match the authentication confirmation code. If not, in step 824, access to the user area 620 of the memory 53 is blocked so that certain data cannot be stored or read.

If the result of the determination of step 822 coincides with the authentication confirmation code, the memory access control unit 540 permits access to the user area 620 of the memory 53 and, in step 828, the received predetermined value. According to an instruction, predetermined data may be stored or read in the user area 620 of the memory 53.

11 is a signal flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of a memory access method of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, another embodiment of the present invention identifies and corrects an occurrence of an error when an authentication code is received encrypted and decrypts the encryption. When the authentication code is output, the error correction unit 700 receives the encrypted authentication code to determine whether an error occurs. When an error occurs, the error correction unit 700 corrects the error and outputs it to the memory access control unit 540. do.

The memory access control unit 540 determines that the system area of the memory 530 is stored in operation 818 when the access signal ADD determines that the user area 620 of the memory 530 is accessed in operation 814. In step 600, the unique ID of the RFID tag is read, and in step 1102, the encrypted authentication code received from the error correcting unit 700 is decrypted by the decryption unit 710, and the decrypted authentication code and the memory. An authentication confirmation code is generated by combining the unique IDs of the RFID tags read out from the system area 600 at 530.

On the other hand, while the present invention has been shown and described with respect to specific preferred embodiments, various modifications and changes of the present invention without departing from the spirit or field of the invention provided by the claims below It can be easily understood by those skilled in the art.

As described above, the present invention sets a user area in a memory of an RFID tag, and stores and reads various types of information related to a user only in a reader having a previously authenticated authentication code in the user area. It is possible to provide various services to the user by reading the user information stored in the user area, and to prevent the leakage of the stored user information.

Claims (1)

A transceiver module for transmitting and receiving a reader and predetermined information, A memory for storing predetermined information, In the wireless recognition tag having a control unit for storing the information received through the transmission and reception module in the memory, and transmitting the information stored in the memory to the reader through the transmission and reception module, The memory, A system area for storing information related to the radio recognition tag, and / or an administrator area for storing information of the article; Wireless identification tag, characterized in that the user area for storing information of the user using the article is partitioned to be divided into a separate storage area.

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